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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27138955">heroes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyscntiago/pseuds/amyscntiago'>amyscntiago</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stranger Things (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Post-Episode: s03e08 The Battle of Starcourt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:49:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,368</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27138955</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyscntiago/pseuds/amyscntiago</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A fic told in many chapters about what happened to everyone after the battle of starcourt.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. moving away</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>joyce, el, will and jonathan begin the move from hawkins, and it has a huge impact on them all.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Hey! Jonathan!’</p>
<p>Joyce Byers laughed softly as her eldest son rounded the corner of her bedroom, a frantic look on his face.</p>
<p>‘Mom? What’s up?’</p>
<p>‘Oh nothing,’ she stifled a laugh as she walked towards him clutching a box of old clothes, ‘just take this box out for me, will you?’</p>
<p>He sighed in relief. ‘Mom! I thought something terrible had happened!’ he took the box from her arms, grinning at her.</p>
<p>‘Yeah well, maybe my voice should stop sounding so anxious all the time.’ sighed Joyce, moving to pack more boxes.</p>
<p>Jonathan walked towards where she was knelt down over a pile of old belongings and placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She looked up at him, her eyes shining suddenly with tears.</p>
<p>‘Hey, Mom,’ whispered Jonathan, ‘we’re all so proud of you, don’t ever forget that.’</p>
<p>‘I know.’ She replied quietly as a single salty tear slid slowly down her cheek.</p>
<p>‘<em>He’d </em>be so proud of you.’</p>
<p>She felt a pang of sadness in her chest, and she inhaled slowly to stop herself from openly weeping. Of course he’d be proud of her. He’d be <em>so</em> proud of her, of El…of their family. She knew him. And of course she knew, deep down, that if he was still here they wouldn’t be packing their bags at all right now. This thought just made her want to cry even more, but she kept it together until her son had left the room to go and load more things into the van.</p>
<p>After she was 100% sure that she was alone, Jonathan’s shouts to Nancy outside proving that point, she picked up the box titled <em>‘Hop’</em> and carried it over to the bed. As soon as she opened it, her eyes were drawn to the faded brown police shirt folded up at the top of the box. The shining police badge was still pinned to the top pocket. She picked it up with shaking hands. It still smelt of him, and as she clutched it to her chest she let herself cry. Sliding down the side of the bed, she tucked her legs up to her chin and buried her face in the shirt of the man she missed more than anything in the world, tears fading slowly into the familiar fabric.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Watching the kids say goodbye to each other was one of the most painful things she’d ever had to witness. She knew that it was going to be very hard, of course she did, but watching El cling onto Mike for dear life as she sobbed into his shoulder truly broke her already broken heart into a million more pieces. Everyone was crying as they all hugged goodbye, and Joyce could see in all their eyes how much it hurt.</p>
<p>‘Take care of them,’ said Mike as he hugged Joyce goodbye, ‘and never stop telling them how much you love them.’</p>
<p>Joyce smiled at him tearfully as she pulled away, ‘of course I won’t, of course I won’t,’ she whispered, ‘I’ll never stop telling them, ever.’</p>
<p>Mike nodded gratefully and stepped away to give his girlfriend and best friend one last hug before they left the town for good.</p>
<p>There were more tears, and one last emotional shout goodbye before they were off, a moving van and years of memories behind them. The ‘leaving Hawkins, come again soon’ sign flashed past them as they drove further and further away from the town they once called home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>About two hours into the drive, Joyce signalled over at Jonathan driving next to her, and then pulled into a clearing to check on everyone. El was fast asleep in the back of the car, her head rested gently on the teddy bear she’d retrieved from the top of the wardrobe earlier. Joyce smiled, before gently nudging her daughter’s knee to get her to wake up and eat something. After a few seconds her eyes slowly blinked open.</p>
<p>‘Hey,’ whispered Joyce, ‘you want sandwiches?’</p>
<p>El just nodded, stretching her arms out and yawning. There were still traces of tear tracks on her face, and Joyce broke inside a little again, but other than that she seemed unharmed.</p>
<p>They both got out of the car and walked over to where Will and Jonathan were sitting on an old ragged blanket they’d found in the back of Jonathan’s car. Will got up and walked over to his mum, reaching out to hug her tightly.</p>
<p>‘Hey baby,’ she whispered, burying her nose in his dark hair, ‘you okay?’</p>
<p>‘Yeah, fine Mom.’ Said Will, smiling a forced looking smile at her before going back over to where El and Jonathan were sat eating sandwiches. Joyce followed, sitting herself down next to El and trying to make her family laugh at least a little, because they all looked as if they were about to burst into tears again. Although she knew how they felt. Moving so far away from their hometown so suddenly had been a huge challenge for everyone, having to leave their friends and familiar surroundings.</p>
<p>Joyce didn’t want to admit how much it hurt to see the police station every morning as she walked past it to get to work, but it did hurt. It hurt so much. It hurt not seeing him there, standing at the boot of his truck and smiling cheerfully, his hat tilted just a little too much to the left. It hurt when she was alone at the cashier all day, without someone to come in and rant about his daughter’s menace of a boyfriend. It hurt that whenever El looked at her, she saw so much pain, and she saw a girl who just desperately wanted her father back.</p>
<p>Hawkins was too painful a town to live in after the horrific events of the summer, and they needed to get away. Joyce just wanted what was best for her kids, and what was best for herself. They all needed to begin to heal and it wasn’t possible in a place that they all associated with the pain of the past.</p>
<p>So they sat in the clearing for a few hours, eating and talking and laughing, and Joyce knew that they’d be just fine in their new home. They had each other, after all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. i wish you'd never left</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>the byers move into their new home, and emotions are on overdrive.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>two chapters in one day?? damn. emma, this is for you ksjhfhs</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was hours and hours before the Byers family finally arrived at their new house in New Mexico, and it was safe to say that they were all exhausted beyond belief. But they couldn’t sleep yet. There were tons of boxes still in the removal van and Joyce knew that they most certainly wouldn’t have the energy to move them tomorrow, so it would be better to just do it today. Exhausted and already incredibly homesick, Joyce, El, Will and Jonathan trudged up the hill to the little house that overlooked a small lake. Turning the key in the lock Joyce pushed the door open and sighed, with relief or sadness she didn’t yet know. At least the house was kinda nice, she thought. The door had opened to reveal a small kitchen, with another door that led into the living room. It was nice. It <em>was</em> nice, and Joyce knew it. She just didn’t exactly know how to process the change.</p>
<p>Maybe it was just all the exhaustion catching up with her, or maybe she finally let the never ending feeling of sadness overcome her, she didn’t know. But what she did know was that she was crying again, she was crying standing in the doorway of her new home and she knew she should be happy but she couldn’t stop thinking about how it would have been if Hop was still here. He would’ve stopped her from moving away. He would’ve lived with them, and El would get her beloved Father back again, and they would’ve been so so happy. They would have been in love and happy and a family and Joyce was crying more just thinking about it.</p>
<p>‘Mom?’</p>
<p>Will came up behind her, a concerned but sympathetic look on his face. ‘Are you okay, Mom?’</p>
<p>She looked up at her youngest son, her face still so wracked with pain, and smiled sadly. ‘Oh Will. I’m fine, I promise. I just..’ she paused for a second as Will reached over to wipe the stream of tears away. ‘I miss him. I miss him so, so much.’</p>
<p>‘Oh Mom,’ Will looked on the verge of tears too, ‘I know. I know. But just know that he’s watching over you, and he’s so proud. You’re doing so well, Mom.’</p>
<p>‘Thanks, honey,’ whispered Joyce, ‘thankyou.’</p>
<p>Will smiled, before walking back outside to his brother and sister.</p>
<p>She would be okay. She would be okay as long as her children were safe and happy. They were proud of her and she needed to be strong, for them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next day they really had to get down to business with the unpacking. They had so much to do, and the huge pile of cardboard boxes in their small living room did look quite intimidating. Joyce just wanted to get it over and done with so that she could hide the box of Hopper’s belongings in her wardrobe where she wouldn’t just randomly come across it and have her heart ache even more for what could’ve been.</p>
<p>El, clad in one of Mike’s oversized shirts, emerged from her bedroom looking still a bit tired, but equally well rested. She walked immediately over to Joyce and tentatively wrapped her arms around her. Joyce was surprised but happy, and hugged her daughter back, resting her chin on her frizzy bedhead.</p>
<p>‘Hey,’ murmured Joyce, ‘did you sleep okay?’</p>
<p>‘Yes, thankyou,’ El whispered, her voice still rough with sleep, ‘the bed was comfy.’</p>
<p>Joyce laughed softly, ‘I’m glad.’</p>
<p>El pulled away and smiled. ‘Mom?’ she asked quietly.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, honey?’ Joyce replied, passing her daughter a bottle of orange juice she had stored in her backpack.</p>
<p>El took it gratefully. ‘Do you..’ she paused, twisting her hands anxiously around the glass bottle. ‘Do you miss home?’</p>
<p>Oh El. Sweet El, who had been through way too much for a girl of her age already. She had lost her Dad, and now she had to leave behind the people she knew and loved. Joyce felt so awful.</p>
<p>‘Of course I do,’ she sighed, tears welling up in her eyes again, ‘of course. It’s so hard leaving everyone, I know. But we had to get away.’</p>
<p>‘I know.’ Said El, her voice wobbling as tears sprung in her eyes. ‘I know.’</p>
<p>Joyce walked over to her, reaching up to gently dry away the tears now dripping slowly down her daughters face. ‘But we can visit. We can visit often, you can talk to them all on the radio, and they can all come here!’ she whispered. ‘It’s still our home, El. We can always go back.’</p>
<p>El nodded and wiped away more tears, and accepted the hug Joyce then offered her.</p>
<p>‘It’s okay. We’ll be okay, I promise you.’</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. i try but i can't forget</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>another day goes by, and the painful ache of jim hopper's absence is ever present.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Hey you’ve reached Jim, I’m probably doing something incredible right now…’</p><p>Joyce sighed as the phone bleeped signalling the end of the voicemail. She put her head in her hands and tried to compose herself before the kids woke up. It was 7:15am, and she hadn’t stopped the voicemail from repeating itself for the past hour.</p><p>She knew she had to let go soon, she had to, but it was hard. So hard. She didn’t think it was possible to feel this heartbroken, but since the moment Jim Hopper had left her heart hadn’t felt full.</p><p>Jumping off the kitchen counter and tying her hair into a messy ponytail, Joyce peeked into her children’s bedrooms to see if they were all still asleep. Will was snoring, his duvet hiding his face and Jonathan was lying on his back, his headphones still wedged to his head. Joyce smiled, rolling her eyes. She had never understood her eldest son's weird habit of falling asleep with his headphones on, but each to their own.</p><p>She peered around the door of El’s room next, but she wasn’t there.</p><p>Trying not to panic Joyce checked every other room of the house in search of her daughter, but she wasn’t in the bathroom or the kitchen. <em>Shit.</em></p><p>Resting her head quickly on a kitchen cupboard, Joyce attempted to breathe normally again. She shouldn’t panic, El must be somewhere. She wouldn’t just leave. Would she?</p><p> </p><p>El was sat on the rickety old swing outside the house, talking to Mike animatedly on the radio. She smiled at the sound of his voice as the wind roared in the background, with no idea at all of how much Joyce was panicking inside the house.</p><p>‘Oh yeah, my Mum said you could all come over for Thanksgiving, we have enough room!’ Mike’s voice was heard, sounding happy but a little bit crackly through the old radio El was speaking through.</p><p>‘That… that would be amazing. Thankyou.’ El whispered, the sound of her boyfriends voice just making her miss him even more.</p><p>‘Anytime.’</p><p>All of a sudden El heard a shout, and she whipped around in panic before sighing in relief at the sight of her Mom.</p><p>‘Oh El! There you are! I was so worried.’ Joyce ran towards El and almost cried sudden tears of happiness as she reached her daughter.</p><p>El stood up and wrapped her arms around Joyce’s neck. ‘I’m so sorry, I thought you were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you and I just needed some fresh air…’</p><p>‘Hey, hey, shhhh,’ Joyce murmured, ‘it’s okay, I’m not mad silly.’</p><p>‘You’re not?’ whispered El tentatively.</p><p>‘Of course not,’ replied Joyce, smiling and shaking her head, ‘I could never be mad. I just get way too worried about you all sometimes, that’s all.’</p><p>‘I know.’ El whispered again, pulling away from the hug. ‘But I was just talking to Mike, and he said that we were all welcome at his house for Thanksgiving!’</p><p>‘Oh, that’s wonderful,’ Joyce laughed softly, ‘How lovely of Karen. Well, there you go! At least you have something to look forward to now.’</p><p>‘Yeah.’ El smiled, shivering slightly.</p><p>Joyce raised her eyebrows. ‘You cold, honey?’</p><p>‘Well, a little, yeah..’</p><p>‘Quick, then! We’ll go inside. I have pancakes!’</p><p> </p><p>As Joyce and El were setting up the table for breakfast (well it wasn’t really a table, more of a cardboard box pile shaped like a table) Will and Jonathan emerged from their bedrooms, their eyes still half closed from the shock of the bright light in the kitchen.</p><p>‘Oh hey, boys,’ said Joyce cheerfully from her place at the stove, ‘did you sleep okay?’</p><p>‘Good, yeah.’</p><p>‘Great thanks Mom.’ Said Will, sitting next to El at the table and smiling at her widely.</p><p>Family breakfasts were Joyce’s favourite. Well to be honest, any meal was her favourite if she got to spend it with her favourite people in the world. They just chatted, and laughed, and forgot about all the pain for a moment as they spent quality time together.</p><p>It made everyone smile. And when her children were smiling, it was a guarantee that Joyce would be smiling too.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. back to hawkins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>the byers head down to hawkins for thanksgiving.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Jonathan? Will? El?’ Joyce shouted frantically from the kitchen, ‘have you all packed everything?’</p>
<p>Jonathan sighed as he entered the kitchen, throwing his very heavy rucksack onto his back, ‘yes Mom,’ he said, heading into the front garden to put his stuff in the car, ‘we’ve got everything.’</p>
<p>‘But are you sure – ‘</p>
<p>‘<em>Yes, </em>Mom,’ Jonathan turned back, rolling his eyes, ‘no need to panic.’</p>
<p>Joyce sighed. The Byers family were finally heading back to Hawkins to celebrate Thanksgiving, and Joyce was a little nervous. Well, maybe a bit more than a little. She was returning to the place he had died and she wasn’t sure how well she was going to be able to handle it.</p>
<p>But her kids were so happy to be seeing their friends after a long couple of months without them, and Joyce was happy to witness that joy, so she tried to keep herself together for their sake.</p>
<p>El was the last one to enter the kitchen, a heavy satchel slung across her shoulder and her shoelaces undone. Joyce giggled. El still hadn’t mastered the art of shoelace tying, but she was trying and Joyce was proud of the kid she was becoming. She was learning new things everyday and found so much happiness in the simple things like lace up shoes. It made Joyce so very happy to see her daughter with a smile on her face.</p>
<p>‘Got everything sweetie?’ Joyce asked, taking the satchel from El with a grin.</p>
<p>‘I think so Mom,’ El replied, making her way outside to the car, ‘I mean I can’t find a matching pair of socks, but I think odd socks are better anyway.’</p>
<p>‘Well, you’re certainly not wrong about that one,’ Joyce laughed, ‘all set then?’</p>
<p>El nodded. ‘Yes.’</p>
<p>And closing the door behind them, the Byers started their journey back to the place all their hearts truly belonged.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they finally arrived in Hawkins it was around 6pm the next day and the Byers family were exhausted. None of them had gotten much sleep because of how excited they were to finally be back in their hometown, so they barely registered the floor moving underneath them as they walked up the path to the Wheelers house.</p>
<p>Although their exhaustion seemed to disappear for a moment the second Karen opened the door to them, and they all smiled so wide at the sight of the familiar family.</p>
<p>‘Hello everyone!’ Karen beamed, hugging El tightly, ‘come in, come in. We’ve all missed you so much!’</p>
<p>El smiled and hugged her back.</p>
<p>‘We missed you all too, so much,’ said Joyce as she stepped inside the house after Karen and her children. ‘thankyou so much for letting us stay.’</p>
<p>‘Oh, anytime, anytime,’ Karen smiled, ‘El and Joyce, you’re upstairs I’m pretty sure and boys you’re downstairs with Mike.’</p>
<p>El’s eyes widened at Mike’s name. ‘Where is Mike?’</p>
<p>Karen laughed, and took El’s bags from her. ‘Oh he’s downstairs sweetie. Go, now, he’s so excited to see you.’</p>
<p>El raced downstairs to the basement and stopped in her tracks when she spotted him, a wide grin plastered on her face.</p>
<p>Mike turned around, spotting her. His eyes widened with excitement and he raced towards her, picking her up in his arms and swinging her round as she shouted with glee.</p>
<p>‘El, oh El,’ he murmured into her hair as he put her down, ‘I missed you so much.’</p>
<p>‘And I missed <em>you</em>,’ she whispered back, reaching her hand up to stroke his cheek gently, ‘New Mexico is so lonely. And so far away.’</p>
<p>‘I know,’ Mike laughed softly, ‘<em>so </em>goddamn far. But you’re here now! And Thanksgiving is so much fun, we’re gonna have a great time.’</p>
<p>‘Yes.’ El smiled at him nervously before reaching up to kiss his cheek.</p>
<p>He laughed before pulling her in for another hug.</p>
<p>‘Where is everyone?’ El asked as she pulled away.</p>
<p>‘Oh, where is Dustin and Lucas and everyone?’</p>
<p>El nodded.</p>
<p>‘Ohhh, they’re at their houses now, but everyone’s coming tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner.’</p>
<p>‘Sounds brilliant,’ said El, grabbing Mike’s hand and leading him back upstairs to where everyone else was, ‘I can’t wait to see them.’</p>
<p>‘They can’t wait to see you either,’ Mike replied, ‘we’ve all been talking about you and Will and Jonathan visiting for weeks, we’re so happy you’re here.’</p>
<p>‘I’m happy I’m here too.’</p>
<p>They both grinned at each other before entering the kitchen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The moment Will spotted his best friend was the happiest he’d been in months. Him and Mike both laughed as they hugged each other tightly.</p>
<p>‘God, man, I missed you so much.’ Said Mike, still grinning.</p>
<p>‘I missed you too dude,’ said Will, ‘it’s great to finally be back here.’</p>
<p>‘It’s great to finally have you back here. It’s been so different since you all left.’</p>
<p>‘Yeah, I bet.’ Will sat down on the edge of a kitchen chair. ‘Well. We’re here now. I can’t wait for Thanksgiving! It’s gonna be brilliant.’</p>
<p>‘Yeah,’ said Mike, ‘it really is.’</p>
<p> </p>
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